Nor'easter batters US northeast with high winds, flooding and power outages

A slow-moving, powerful storm known as a nor’easter crept along the coast of the US north-east on Saturday, producing high winds that knocked out electricity to thousands of people while whipping up big waves and heavy rains that created dangerous conditions in some places.

Tens of millions of people were in the path of the storm, which was forecast to affect the mid-Atlantic area and New England throughout the weekend. About 100,000 customers in the region were without electricity Saturday.

The forecast showed no immediate reprieve. There would potentially be “a lot of high winds, a lot of high tides and heavy rain … over the next few days for the northeastern US”, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service (NWS) in College Park, Maryland.

On Long Island, New York, some people kayaked down flooded streets.

In the coastal New Jersey borough of Surf City, Kenny Formica sat at his home watching surveillance cameras showing water rising inside the marina he owns. Water getting inside the building is rare, Formica said. The last time he remembers it happening was during Hurricane Sandy, which he said caused more than $4m in damage to his business.

Before the storm, Formica said, workers secured dock lines, moved loose items and equipment out of harm’s way and parked the marina’s trucks and forklifts at the highest point of the property. By Saturday morning, even those were nearly surrounded by water.

Formica said he woke Saturday to messages from customers reporting missing boats and Jet Skis. One customer sent him a video at about 4am of his 25ft (7.6-meter) boat after it had blown off its lift.

“This is like an 8,000lb boat and, you know, a $150,000 boat – just gone,” Formica said.

In Ocean City, Maryland, heavy surf caused beach erosion, washed out fencing by the dunes and was leading to flooding.

“In all the canals, the water is up really high and coming into people’s backyards,” Jay Boyd said by telephone.

Concerts were canceled, along with dozens of flights going into airports in Boston, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts on Friday and Saturday. Several airlines were offering to waive some change or cancellation fees for some east coast flights through the weekend.

Brian Kelly, the mayor of the tiny New Jersey beach community of Sea Bright, said the borough was bracing for winds up to 50mph (80km/h) and flooding that could reach up to 6ft (1.8 meters) on some streets. Officials expect the flooding to start on Saturday and worsen by midday.

“It’s going to be worse than average. We do have probably one or two flooding events a year, sometimes more, sometimes less, but I think this one will be closer to an Irene-scale flooding event,” Kelly said, referencing the 2011 storm that caused major flooding in the north-east. “I hope I’m wrong, but that’s my gut feeling.”

Kelly added that he hopes hundreds of residents living in low-lying areas will consider evacuating. He said the town will open its recreation center for evacuees.

Peak wind gusts were expected to approach 60-65mph (97-105km/h) on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on Friday night and Saturday, and about 50-55mph (80-89km/h) around Boston and 35-40mph (56-64km/h) farther inland, according to Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with the NWS in Norton, Massachusetts.

“It’s definitely going to be a case of the closer to the coast you are, the more impacts from the storm you’re likely to see,” Belk said.

Belk said nor’easters were not unusual as New England moves into fall, but one concern this early in the season was that leaves still remain on trees, creating more wind resistance. That could increase the risk of downed limbs, which in turn could cause power outages and leave debris in roads, he said.

Along the Atlantic coasts of New Jersey and Delaware, wind gusts could reach 60mph (96.6km/h), according to NWS. In south-eastern Connecticut and eastern Long Island, New York, gusts could be almost as powerful, potentially downing tree limbs and power lines.

More than 200 flights to and from airports in Boston, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and New York had been canceled on Friday, and more cancellations were already in place for Saturday.